West Highland Way - Days 1-4
Day 1 - Milngavie to Drymen - 12 miles/19 km
Day 2 - Drymen to Rowardennan - 14 miles/22.5 km
Day 3 - Rowardennan to Inverarnan - 14 miles/22.5 km
Day 4 - Inverarnan to Tyndrum - 13 miles/21 km
I hadn't planned this trip out in advance. In fact the plan was to head off just as soon as the weather looked like it would stay good for the foreseeable future. Of course relying too much on the weather forecast in Scotland is usually a bit of a gamble but it can sometimes be right. The outlook for the area when I checked it on Saturday May 23rd it suggested reasonable weather in the region of the walk followed by a bit of rain and then some very hot periods.I set off towards Glasgow the very next day on a whim, being unemployed at least has its advantages when it comes to spontaneous holidays, and before I knew it I was at Milngavie train station. By the way, the confusingly spelled Milngavie is actually pronounced 'mull-guy' for those of you not quite in the know and while I'm at it, Edinburgh is pronounced 'Ed-din-burr-uh' not 'Edin-burg', I just thought I would point that out. It was an overcast day but nevertheless dry and relatively warm so I was quite happy. The start of the WHW was marked with a large stone obelisk, a large sign and even a couple of benches with 'West Highland Way - Milngavie'. I headed off down the path and before long I was away from the city, surrounded by green countryside landscapes. It would be a while before I would reach the mountainous terrain of the Highlands however.
Out of all the days on the WHW the first is probably the least interesting. In fact to anyone thinking of walking the way I would suggest skipping the first couple of days and starting around Rowardennan perhaps or somewhere else on Loch Lomond. Unless of course it's important to you that you complete the whole thing! I spent the first night in a small campsite in a field just outside the small village of Drymen. The next day the weather was quite unsettled and some fine weather was interspersed with patchy showers which came and went. The scenery gradually started to get more interesting as Loch Lomond came into view but it wouldn't be until the next day when the views really started to impress. On the second night I set up my tent in a random place next to the track under a tree just before a heavy downpour started. As I lay in my sleeping bag that night, listening to the rain beating noisily on my minuscule tent I began to wonder, just for a moment, what the hell was I doing here?! Of course it was a fleeting lament to say the least but I was worried that the weather would turn sour for the rest of the walk.
I shouldn't have worried! I awoke to clear blue skies, quite a pick me up in the morning, and after shaking the water off I packed away my tent, quite pleased at its ability to keep water well and truly out of the interior, and carried on. I stopped for a long rest, a decent lunch and a couple of pints at the splendid Inversnaid Hotel. Eventually I made it to Inverarnan where there was a great campsite set in a good location and with good facilities, a shop and a great pub. The next day was overcast again and a low fog was hanging over the mountains, not only that but it looked like it might rain anytime soon. It hardly seemed like an ideal day for walking but fortunately it stayed mostly dry most of the time. After completing the 4th day I grabbed a bus to Glencoe, an area I wanted to go to during my walking holiday but wasn't on the route of the WHW. My plan was to do some climbing in that area before returning and picking up the Way from where I left off.At this point I had also decided that I had spent too much time walking in between hills and mountains rather than going up them so it seemed like the ideal time to leave the WHW.
for some reason these cows found me quite fascinating!
foggy weather on day 4
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